In 1985, Piaget/Nouvelle Lemania sold Heuer to Techniques d’Avant Garde (or TAG), a company with investments in high-tech industries, aviation and Formula 1 racing (with McLaren F1). Jack Heuer was forced to sell the company to a consortium of investors, which included Piaget and Nouvelle Lemania, in 1982. The 1980s were difficult times for the Swiss watch industry and Heuer was no exception. Even though Heuer introduced several models with battery-powered calibres, the quartz crisis decimated the Carrera, which was discontinued in 1984. The arrival of quartz movements did not benefit the Carrera. The 1970s saw the introduction of barrel-shaped watches, bold designs and flashy dials, as well as the collaboration with Ferrari and many of the most famous drivers of that time. Subsequently, several other models came to life, such as the mono-register Carrera 45 Dato, which added a date function. Several versions of the Heuer Carrera 2447 existed, with two sub-counters (Carrera 45 and 30, with a 45 or a 30-minute register) and with three sub-counters (Carrera 12, with a 12-hour register). The idea was to simply remove all decorative elements and to focus on the essential: a chronograph function.įirst delivered in single tone (mostly silver), the watch quickly evolved to a two-tone design (Panda or Reversed-Panda) for enhanced legibility. ![]() A 36mm case with straight casebands and faceted lugs (the signature design which was kept for the coming 55 years) and a clean dial with raised applied batons for the hours and sunken registers. The first generation of Heuer Carrera, known as the reference 2447, existed from 1963 to 1970, in various models but all sharing the same overall design. With his engineering background, Jack Heuer applied his principles of product design to give birth to this clean, uncluttered watch that was the Heuer Carrera 2447. Having settled on the name, Jack started to design a watch for gentlemen drivers with one main objective in mind: to be the most practical, most legible wrist-worn instrument when driving, capable of timing races and calculating speeds. However, even though the race no longer existed in 1962, Jack found the name and the background story interesting (Carrera can easily be pronounced in many languages) and upon his return to Switzerland from the US, he registered the name. These two bold drivers introduced Jack Heuer to one of the most dangerous and fascinating races ever, the Carrera Panamericana – a border-to-border sports car racing event on open roads in Mexico, running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954 (stopped in 1955 due to safety concerns and after the 1955 Le Mans disaster). The story of the Carrera starts in 1962 when Jack met with the Rodriguez Brothers at the 12 Hours of Sebring race. Yet, at the end of the 1950s and at the beginning of the 1960s, the trend for chronograph wristwatches became bigger and bigger and Heuer, already having several watches in the collection, needed to create something sportier, something in line with the current trend for motorsports – don’t forget that Omega was already active in that field with the Speedmaster, and that Rolex was about to launch the Daytona. Instruments for sports, dashboard timers or chronographs were the core business of the brand. Since the creation of the brand, back in 1860, Heuer specialised in stopwatches and chronographs. Together with Catherine Eberlé-Devaux, TAG Heuer’s Heritage Director, MONOCHROME WATCHES will trace the history of this legendary chronograph watch, the Carrera. Since then, the Heuer Carrera and the ensuing TAG Heuer Carrera never ceased to evolve, in terms of designs, materials or mechanics, but the main objective was maintained: a tool for racing drivers. The gentleman driver’s watch personified. Born in 1963, designed by Jack Heuer himself to answer the needs of motorsports pilots, named after one of the most legendary races (the Carrera Panamericana), the recipe was simple: a clean, uncluttered, ultra-legible and reliable instrument to measure time and average speed during races. ![]() This year, TAG Heuer is celebrating the 55th anniversary of its most iconic watch, the Carrera.
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